Web feeding means for cutting machines



April 1952 F. K. MADGWICK EIAL 2,593,585

WEB FEEDING MEANS FOR CUTTING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 11, 1946 HIGH]! A ril 22, 1952 F. K. MA DGWICK ETAL 2,593,535

WEB FEEDING-MEANS FOR CUTTING MACHINES Filed Jan. 11, 1946 5 Sheets'$heet 2 [N V EN TOR.

HTTORNEV A ril 22, 1952 F. K. MADGWICK ETAL ,5 5

WEB FEEDING MEANS FOR CUTTING MACHINES Filed Jan. 11, 1946 5 Sheets-Shea]; 3

VENTO (mi zragy/o llll HTTORNEY 5 Sheets-She et 4 5/) A Jul ardck F. K. MADGWICK ETAL WEB FEEDING MEANS FOR CUTTING MACHINES April 22, 1952 Filed Jan. 11, 1946 A ril 22, 1952 F. K. MADGWICK ET AL 2,593,535

WEB FEEDING MEANS FOR CUTTiNG MACHINES Filed Jan. 11, 1946 5 Sh'eets$heet 5 I INVENTOR. 73 lf 4/ 7/" car/0A K. I M fore/b5 flz/ajj/c o Patented Apr. 22, 1952 UNITED WEB FEEDING MEANS FOR CUTTING MACHINES FrederickK. Madgwick, Upper Darby, and Joseph A. Silvaggio, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application January-'11, 1946, Serial No; 640,632

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 O. G. 757) 3 Claims.

The. invention. described herein, if patented, may be manufactured andlused by or for. the

Government for governmental purposes, without:

the payment to us of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to. amachine for cutting web material into predetermined lengths,. and more particularly to amachine for cutting such material into tabs ofv a predetermined size and shape when the same is provided with holes located at.predetermined intervals therein.

One object of the invention. is, to provide a machine of the character described, incorporating means for feedingthe material to be operated uponin controlled-stages in the direction of the device by which the same is to be out.

Another object'of the invention. isto provide means by which a continuous length of fabric or like material canbe accurately cut'intopieces of predetermined length and shape with..a. minimum expenditure of time and labor.

A further object of the inventionais to provide a means whereby astrip of narrow fabric, such'as webbing or the like provided with holes at predetermined intervals, forexample, button-holes, may be cut into pieces of desiredpredetermined length and shapeandinwhich the extremities of all the pieces will be accurately. located with. respect to the holes therein A still further object of the invention. is to.

described web cutting machinein-whichfabric.

or similar material is moved by controlled increments in the directionof a ,cuttingdevice through the intermediation of aseries of adjustablecamoperated levers in coordination with acam-operated cutting device for severingthe material into predetermined lengths.

one piece of webbing may be cutto' a desired shape by the same cutting movement that the adjacent endof the-contiguous piece'iscut to some other desired shape. Thusby means of the invention a tab of predetermined length, having one end pointed: and the other end cut transversely straight across, may be formed lay-each:

cutting movement: ofv the machine.

The invention will best be understood from'the following description of the preferred embodiment thereof taken with the accompanying drawings wherein:

The cutting device ispreferably of such a character that one endiof' Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the fabric cutting machine;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the same;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the same, partly broken away to show working parts of the machine;

Figure 4 is an enlarged front view, partly in section, of the fabric feeding and severing mechanism of the machine;

Figure 5 is an enlarged plan view, partly broken away, of the fabric feeding guide of the machine;

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 66 ofv Figure 5;

Figure? is an enlarged plan view of the fabricv cutting knife and the securing and adjusting means therefor;

Figure 8 is an end elevational view of Figure 7 Figure 9 is a plan view 'of a modified fabric feeding guide;

Figure 10 is a sectional view taken along line I0--IU of Figure 9; and

Figure 11 is a sectional view taken along line II-I I of Figure 9.

In the drawings, I is a framework of generally U-shape or C-shape as shown, which may be in the form of a casting of suitable size to adequately support the operating parts of the machine and rigid enough to maintain the same against undesirable vibration during operation. 2 is the main driving shaft. of themachine which is adapted to be operated by any suitable source of power through the intermediation of any suitable mechanism, such for example, as the driving pulley 3, shown in Figures 2 and 3.

Fixed upon the driving shaft 2 at suitably spaced intervals are the cams 4, 5 and 6, as will best be seen in Figures 1 and 3, which may be secured in any desiredmanner as by the use of keys and key-waysand which may be maintained in suitably spaced relation by means of collars on the shaft 2, or by other desired means. The cams 4 and 5 operate the fabric cutting mechanism of the machine and extend in opposite directions fromthe axis of the shaft 2 as seen in Figure 1. The rear.- end I I of the upper cutting lever I bears upon the earn 4, and the rear end I 2of the lower cutting lever B bears upon the cam 5, the ends II and I2' being urged together and into engagement with the cams by a coiled spring [6. It will be apparent from-an inspection of the arrangement illustrated in Figure 1, that upon rotation of the shaft'2, the rear ends I l and I2 of the levers I and 8 will be alternately forced apart by the cams 4 and 5, and drawn together by the coil spring I 6. thus causing the front ends [4 and I5 of the levers to be moved toward and away from each other.

The cam 6, which operates the fabric feeding mechanism of the machine, has a lateral groove |8 therein, forming a cam-track in which a roller 26 is adapted to move. The roller is rotatably supported upon the feed driving lever 2|, which is provided at one end with a widened portion having a rectangular opening 22 to accommodate a collar 23 which fits on the shaft 2. As can be seen in Figure 1, the rotation of the cam 6 causes the roller 26 to follow the lateral groove |8 therein whereby the feed driving lever 2| is caused to reciprocate back and forth.

The feed driving lever 2 I, at the end 24 thereof remote from the cam 5, is secured to a slide block 25 moving between guides 26 and 21 rigidly secured to a supporting plate 28 fastened to the frame of the machine. A connecting link 38 has one end pivoted upon the slide block 25 and the other end pivoted at 3| to a feed lever or rocker arm 32 through a slotted hole 34 in the latter, whereby the position of the pivot 3| can be adjusted. The feed lever 32 is pivoted at the end 35 to the frame of the machine, and at the opposite end is provided with a forked portion 36, to which is pivoted an apertured swivel block 31, shown in Figure 4. An eyed. hinge screw 38 is threaded into the apertured swivel block 31 and is pivoted through its eye 39 to a feed carrier 48. The feed carrier 46 is slidably secured to a feed track 4| which is in turn secured upon the plate 28 by screws 42 and 43.

The manner in which reciprocatory motion is imparted to the feed carrier 46 can best be seen in Figures 1 and 3. In Figure 3 it will be seen that the feed driving lever 2| is given a reciprocating motion by the cam 6 when the shaft 2 is rotated. The lever 2| in turn moves the slide block 25 as seen in Figure 3, and therewith the link 58. The movement of the link 36 causes a pivotal movement of the feed lever 32 about the pivoted end 35 giving an arcuate motion to the forked end 36 thereof. The swivel block 3'! and hinge screw 38 transmit the arcuate motion of the fork 36 to the feed carrier 46 moving the same back and forth along the fabric feeding guide 4 In its preferred form the fabric feeding guide 4|, as best seen'in Figures 4, 5 and 6, is a fiat plate provided with shallow channel 44 extending from end to end in its upper surface. The guide 4| is secured upon the plate 28 by means of screws 42 and 43. The guide 4| has beveled edges 46 and 41 along its lower surface, seen in Figure 6, and is provided with a pointed'forward end 48. A thin plate 56, generally of U-shape, is set flush with the upper surface of the guide 4|, the legs 5| and 52 of the U being widened along part of their length to project inwardly as at 54 and slightly over the channel 44, and the bottom 53 of the U bridging the channel 44. The projecting portions 54 and 55 of the legs of the plate 58 are thus widened near the bottom of the U, as seen in Figure 5, and beneath these widened portions narrow flexible leaf springs 56 and 51 are arranged longitudinally in the channel 44 and bowed laterally inwardly thereof. These leaf springs are for the purpose of laterally compressing a fabric strip passing through the feed guide 4| and causing the same to be bowed or arched upwardly to spread open buttonholes located at spaced intervals along the strip, as will later be explained. As shown in Figures 4 and 6, the web of material will be arched both in a transverse and longitudinal direction.

A modified form of fabric feeding guide is fied form of guide M shown in Figures 9 and 10 wherein the guide is indicated as M The guide 4| has the shallow channel 44 in its upper surface, the beveled edges 46 and 41 and the pointed forward end 48 corresponding to similar parts of the preferred form of guide just described. A thin bridge 53 extends across the channel 44 near the rear end of the guide 4| Midway of its length the bottom of the guide 4 I has two longitudinal openings 58 and 60 in its bottom. The openings 58 and 60 are of such size and configuration as to leave an elongated portion 6| of the bottom of the feed guide between them, providing upwardly and inwardly sloping cam-like surfaces 62 and 63 on each side of the portion 6|. Opposite the surfaces 62 and 63 the sides of the channel 44 extend inwardly to form two portions 64 and 65 having the inner sloping camlike surfaces 66 and 61, and the bottom cam-like surfaces 66 and 61 The surfaces 66 and 61 are concaved inwardly in a horizontal direction, as best shown in Figure 9, and slope inwardly and upwardly, as best shown in Figure 10. The bottom cam surfaces 66 and 61 best shown in Figures 10 and 11, are convexed downwardly. A fabric strip passing under bridge 56 has its side edges cammed downwardly by the cam surfaces 66 and 61 and inwardly by the cam surfaces 66 and 61, thus forming a transverse arch in the fabric to cause spreading open of the buttonholes in the strip in a manner similar to that described in connection with the fabric feeding guide 4 During the arching of the strip, the side edges of the strip enter the longitudinal openings 58 and 60 and are guided thereby. The fabric feed guide 4| is secured to the plate 28 in the same manner as has already been described for the preferred form of guide 4|.

The feed carrier 40 has its bottom formed with a downwardly opening channel having the inwardly facing sloping surfaces 68 and 18 for engagement with the beveled surfaces 46 and 41 of the preferred form of guide 4|, or with the corresponding surfaces 46 and 41 of the modi- The feed carrier is thus made interchangeable with either form of the feed guide. The feed carrier 46 is provided with an upwardly extending post 12 to which is attached a hinge 13 by means of the screw M. A feed pawl 15, shown in Figures 2, 3, 4 and 6, has a horizontal portion 16, provided with an elongated opening 11, by which the pawl 15 is attached to the hinge 13 by a screw 18. By loosening the screw 18, the pawl 15 can be shifted laterally to adjust its position with relation to the feed carrier 40. The feed pawl is pointed at its free end 86 and the point is urged in a downward direction by a coil spring 8|.

Adjacent the rear end of the fabric feeding guide 4| a bracket 82 is secured to the plate 28, which bracket has an upwardly extending portion 84 bent outwardly at a slight angle at its upper end 85. A strip of thin fiat spring metal 86 is secured by one end to the portion 85 of the bracket and extends downwardly therefrom at an angle. A release plunger 81 passes through the bracket 82 and bears at its inner end on the metal strip 86 to enable raising of the lower end of the metal strip for inserting or removing the webbing. A coil spring 88, or similar means, is provided on the plunger 81 to maintain the same against the spring 86. The spring 86 urges plunger 81 outwardly. An opening 89 is formed in the bracket 82 near its bottom through which a strip of fabric may be passed. The metal strip I04 extends.

86 bears-upon' the upper surface of the fabric strip while the same is passing throughthe opening 89 and through the feed guide 4I toward the cutting mechanism of the machine, and acts as a check spring .to' prevent any tendency of the fabric to move backward through opening 89. Spring 86 in conjunction with pawl 15 gives tension to the webbing prior to cutting. The spring 86 also prevents forward overthrow of the webbingunder action of pawl 15.

Thecutting mechanism of the machinecomprises the levers I and 3 operated by thecams 4 and 5,. respectively, as previously described.

A fabric cutting knife 92 which may conveniently have cutting edges 92 in the form of a K, is carried by. the front end. I5 of the lower cutting lever 8, and an anvil 94 opposed to the knife 92,.

iscarried by the front end I4 of the upper cutting lever l. The manner in which the fabric cutting knife 92 is secured to the end I5 isillustrated in Figures 7 and 8 of the drawings. A clamping member 95' has a downwardly. extendingportion 96 fitting'into a transverse groove '5 in the end I of the lower cutting lever 8, as seen inFigures l and 8. The clamping member 95 has an upwardly extending portion formed with anundercut sloping surface 98 for engaging a dove-tailed portion I00 of the knife 92. The clamping member 95 has an elongated opening IOI, through which it is adapted to be adjusted laterally of the end I5 by loosening the screw I02. An angle bracket I04 is fastened to the end I5 by screws or other means and is associated with a clamping member I05 opposed to and also overlying a portion of the clamping member 95. The clamping member I05 has a wedging surface I06 which is adapted for engagement with a similar wedging surface I01 of a wedge member I08. The wedge member I00 overlies a portion of the clamping member I05. The wedge member I 08 has an elongated opening I I 0 therein through which an upstanding post I I I fixed on the bracket A screw I I2 extends through a hole in the post I II and the opposite end of the screw is threaded in a lug II3 formed on the wedge member I08. The dove-tailed portion I00 of the knife 92 is adapted to be securely clamped between the clamping members 95 and I05. As will be seen by an inspection of Figure 7, by loosening the screw I02 and adjusting the position of the wedge member I08 by turning the screw II2, the clamping members 95 and I05 can be moved to any desired position on the end I5 of the lower cutting lever 8, and upon retightening the screw I02 the knife will be held and securely clamped in place. The clamping members 95 and I05 have cut-out portions, indicated by dotted line in Figure 7, for allowing movement of the same without interference with the post III on the bracket I04. The anvil 94 is secured to the end I4 of the cutting lever I by means of the opposed clamping portions H4 and H5 between which the dove-tailed portion II6 of anvil 94 is held by the screw I I1, as best seen in Figures 2 and 4.

Before setting the above described fabric cutting machine into motion, a strip of fabric H5, such for example as a strip of webbing, having the button-holes H6 therein at spaced intervals, is inserted by one end through the opening 89 in bracket 82, beneath the cross member 53, and pressed down into the channel 44 of the feed guide 4|. By reason of the leaf springs 50 and 51 pressing againstthe side edges of the strip II5, the same will be arched upwardly between the springs and abutton-hole located therebetween will be pread open, as is plainly shown in Figure 5. The feed pawl 15 is raised against the tension ofspring 8I'and the strip [I5 is adjusted so that the pointed end of the pawl will fall within a buttonhole spread open as just described.

The machine is then in condition for operation and upon starting rotation of the shaft 2, the feed lever driving cam 6 will operate the feed driving lever 2I which in turn operates the link 30, the feedlever 32, and hinge screw 38, thus causing the feed carrier 40-to move back and forth along the feed guide 4I- under a toggle linkage. When the feed carrier40 moves forward, the point 80 of feed pawl I5 engages the forward end of buttonhole II 5 and moves the fabric strip I I5 toward the cutting mechanism; While the fabric feeding-mechanism is operating as just described, the cams 4and5 will be moving the cutting levers I and 8', andit will readliy be appreciated that the cams 4, 5 and 6 may be adjusted so that the knife 92 will meet the anvil 94 and sever the fabric strip 1 I5 just as or shortly after the feed carrier 40 reaches its forwardmost position, or the cutting mechanism can be adjusted to sever the strip at any desired point in the movement of the feed carrier;

After the completion of a single cutting movement of the machine, the feed carrier starts its backward movement, and the point of pawl E5 rides out of the buttonhole. The back of the point 80 is rounded to facilitate backward movement without pulling the webbing. When the carrier 40 reaches its rearniost position, the point 80-of pawl 15 will fall into the next buttonhole ready to move forward another length of the fabric strip. Preferably point Ed has a slight over-movement in a backward direction, that is, a movement greater than the spacing of buttonholes to insure the point at} dropping into the buttonhole even though the distance between buttonholes may vary somewhat due to handling and stretching of the web material. After point 80 drops into a buttonhole, the forward stroke commences and point 80 moves forwardly until it engage the material at the forward end of the buttonholeto carry the material forward to repeat the-cycle.

.It will readily be seen that by changing the position of the pivot 3! in the opening 34 in the feed lever 32 the distance traveled by the carrier 40 can be adjusted as desired, and that very small adjustments in this distance can be made by turning the hinge screw 33. Pieces of fabric of any desired length, with buttonholes in any desired location therein, can thus be very rapidly cut from a long continuous strip of material. For example, tabs offabric can be cut with a buttonhole a uniform distance from the tip or forward end of each tab.

By providing the knife 92 with several cutting edges, such for example as the K-shaped arrangement described, the front end of one piece of fabric can be cut to one shape, for example, a V-cut, while the rear end of the preceding piece can be given some other shape, for example, a straight cut. Two cutting operations are thus accomplished at a single stroke. Since the material cut out between contiguous strips is wasted, the everal cutting edges should be as close to each other as possible, preferably merging at at least one point.

The adjustment screw it permits lateral adjustment of the feed pawl 75 to insure centering of the feed pawl when the buttonholes are in the center line of the fabric strip. If it is desired to cut a strip of fabric having buttonholes in some location other than on the longitudinal axis of the material, the feed pawl 15 can be readily adjusted to operate upon any such material by loosening the screw 78 and moving the point 80 laterally into engagement with a buttonhole in the fabric, while the same is in position in the feed guide.

Should there be any tendency for the fabric to move backward in the machine, due to the return of the point 80, or from any other cause, such movement will be prevented by the checking action of the metal strip 86 thereon. The metal strip 86 bearing against the fabric also produces a uniform sound when the machine is operating perfectly, any undesirable change in the conditions of operation, such as sticking of the fabric in the feeding mechanism, or the end of the fabric being reached, resulting in a change in the sound or cessation thereof, and thus acting as a signal.

It will thus be seen that the invention provides a simple and effective means, very flexible in operation and capable of use with a wide variety of fabrics or other web material having holes to accurately produce pieces of uniform size and configuration with the holes arranged in any desired relation,

It will of course be understood that many changes in the form and arrangements of the parts of the machine can be made, and many obvious mechanical equivalents can be substituted for the parts shown and described herein, all of which would fall within the scope of the appended claims and involve no departure from the spirit of the invention.

We claim:

1. Means for feeding a continuous web of material provided with a series of longitudinal slits to an operational means in synchronization therewith, said feeding means including a guide having a flat bottom and longitudinally extending portions at the sides thereof and spaced from the flat bottom forming a partly inclosed channel for said web, means associated with the channel for engaging the side edges of the web and restricting the width of the channel and pressing the side edges toward each other to form an up.- wardly-extending transverse arch in the web and thereby separating the edges of the slit in the material in the channel, and reciprocating finger means extending between the longitudinally extending portions of the channel for engaging the Wall of a slit in the region of the arch.

2. Means for feeding a continuous web of material provided with a series of longitudinal slits to an operational means in synchronization therewith, said feeding means including a guide having a guide having a fiat bottom and longitudinally extending portions at the sides thereof and spaced from the flat bottom forming a partly inclosed channel for said web, cam means associated with the channel for engaging the side edges of the web and restricting the width of the channel and pressing the side edges toward each other to form an upwardly-extending transverse arch in the web and thereby separating the edges of the slit in the material in the channel, and reciprocating finger means extending between the longitudinally extending portions of the channel for engaging the wall of a slit in the region of the arch.

3. Mean for feeding a continuous web of material provided with a series of longitudinal slits to an operational means in synchronization therewith, said feeding means including a guide having a flat bottom and longitudinally extending portions at the sides thereof and spaced from the flat bottom forming a partly inclosed channel for said web, elongated leaf springs associated with the channel for engaging the side edges of the web and restricting the width of the channel and pressing the side edges toward each other to form an upwardly-extending transverse arch in the web and thereby separating the edges of the slit in the material in the channel, and reciprocating finger means extending between the longitudinally extending portions of the channel for engaging the wall of a slit in the region of the arch.

FREDERICK K. MADGWICK. JOSEPH A. SILVAGGIO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 565,186 Taylor Aug. 4, 1896 848,187 Meyers Mar. 26, 1907 1,054,976 McCauley Mar. 4, 1913 1,243,673 Chatfield Oct. 16, 1917 1,340,882 Freeman May 25, 1920 1,394,422 Maranville et al. Oct. 18, 1921 1,481,332 Stock Jan. 22, 1924 1,510,696 Naugle Oct. 7, 1924 1,852,379 Ruau Apr. 5, 1932 1,986,678 Laencher Jan. 1, 1935 2,073,507 Weimont Mar. 9, 1937 2,155,762 Von Kintzel Apr. 25, 1939 2,158,790 Arthur May 16, 1939 2,205,573 Medwick et a1 June 25, 1940 2,382,406 Engberg Aug. 14, 1945 2,465,304 Wyrick Mar. 22, 1949 

